If You Work in a Hospital
Jim Owen, MAT, retired EAP Counselor and Regional Manager for Workforce Performance Solutions. I provided EAP and Consulting services to multiple health care institutions and their staff in Northern and Eastern Maine. WPS is headquartered in Portland, Maine, and is a division of Affiliated Healthcare Systems, Bangor, Maine.
I have been retired almost 3 years. Since retiring, I have been writing poetry instead of clinical records, reports, and contract proposals. Some of my poetry is about work. This poem reflects my experience working with nurses and doctors. I appreciate that poetry is not something you usually publish, however, like a photo, a poem is sometimes worth a thousand words. I think this poem is particularly relevant to the nurses who read your magazine, it has to do with bad days at work, and high expectations regarding patient outcomes.

IS THERE CARE IN HEALTH CARE
Judy Bearden RN
I wrote this poem after going out one day to assist a mother with her 22 year old son who had a traumatic brain injury in a 4-wheeler accident. He had a trach, feeding tube, foley cath and skin breakdown from being in a long term care facility for 2 months. The insurance company allowed me three visits to teach the mother how to care for her son.